


The Demon Disaster

by Toboe1087



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Demon Kuroo Tetsurou, Elements from Haikyuu Quest, Episodic Plot, I'll add character tags as they appear, Japanese Mythology & Folklore, there may be romance but it won't be the main focus
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-17
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-02-07 21:35:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21464902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Toboe1087/pseuds/Toboe1087
Summary: The last thing Yaku wanted to deal with was a demon stalker, even if he seemed well-intentioned.or: the episodic adventures of demon!Kuroo and Yaku, the totally normal college studentTHIS WORK IS CURRENTLY ON HIATUS. I hope to come back to it one day, but I just don't have the time to atm and my inspiration is slipping :/
Comments: 21
Kudos: 44
Collections: Creative Chaos Discord Recs





	1. The Encounter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! so updates on this will be sporadic and whenever I'm inspired to write another adventure of demon!kuroo and yaku. I was going to wait until I'd stockpiled a few more of those before I posted, but, well, it's Kuroo's bday and I'm a sucker for that kind of thing, so Happy Birthday to Kuroo!

Yaku lived a normal life. A _completely_ normal life. Sure, he saw things that other people didn’t, but he never let that affect his life in any way, so it didn’t matter. 

So what if he saw demons? Contrary to popular belief, the creatures weren’t constantly plaguing mankind or anything like that. No, they usually keep to themselves, or followed around specific people. 

So Yaku followed a simple policy: He didn’t interact with them, they didn’t interact with him, and everyone went their separate ways. That was that.

Except, sometimes the demons looked human. So human, in fact, that Yaku didn’t always realize until after he’d spoken with someone, that they weren’t _actually_ human. Now, a human talking to a demon always went one of three ways. 

1) The demons scoff at him, call him a dirty name and move on (usually with smoke coming out of their mouths or some suitably demonic sign that they, despite their looks, were _not_ human like he’d assumed.

2) They completely ignored him. Honestly, some of those might have been humans, too, but Yaku felt better if he just assumed everyone that ignored his existence was a demon. It was better for his internal narrative about his life. 

3) They beat him up.

Needless to say, Yaku liked option three the least. It was bad enough getting beaten up, but getting beaten up and having no one to blame it on, or to have a passerby think you were falling down for no reason and just being melodramatic—that was the worst. 

Now, however, there was an option four.

Because this one demon _wouldn’t leave him alone_.

It had all started that morning, when Yaku had tapped on the guy’s shoulder. It wasn't that cold, but the demon had been wearing a jacket with his hood up and had looked perfectly human. But he didn’t move when the pedestrian light had turned green, and the path was too narrow for Yaku to move around him. “Excuse me?”

Silence.

Well, darn it. He didn’t have a lot of options; class would start soon. So even with the warning flag of silence, Yaku steeled his nerves and reached up, tapping the guy’s shoulder.

And then he’d met startled eyes. Startled eyes that were _far_ too cat-like to be human. And there were two curling horns nestled in his bizarre black hair.

Shit.

Yaku took a step back.

The demon grinned, revealing a mouth filled with sharp fangs. “Well aren’t _you_ interesting.”

Please let this not be a #3. 

Yaku turned around. He’d go down another street. Being on time to class wasn’t worth this. 

“Hey, wait!” There were hurried footsteps, and then that tall head was peeking over Yaku’s shoulder. “You can see me, right? That’s really cool! I’ve heard of humans like you, but I’ve never actually met one. Can you hear me, too?”

Yaku refused to respond. No matter the circumstances, he _wouldn’t engage_. Leaving demons alone was what had gotten him this far in life, it only made sense to continue that tactic. 

Except the demon started telling this horrendously lewd story and Yaku couldn’t help but blush at all the innuendo. And then that sharp grin was back, peeking back around Yaku’s shoulder. “Knew it. You _can_ hear me.” 

Yaku crossed the street. If you ignored people, they would eventually stop bugging you, so that should work with demons, too, right?

Wrong.

Definitely wrong. 

Yaku had gone to his history lecture (arriving only two minutes late, though the prof still gave him a dirty look for that), and the demon entered the class right behind him, much to Yaku’s dismay. 

Halfway through the lecture, Yaku gave up on notes entirely. Even though the professor was incredibly boring and regularly put the class to sleep, the demon stayed the _entire time._ He strolled between the rows of students, whistling some eerie tune, occasionally knocking things onto the floor for bewildered students to pick up, and even drawing a stick figure mocking the professor onto the chalk board. 

(Yaku had never figured out what other people thought happened when demons did things like this—they noticed the papers move as the demon pushed them onto the ground, but didn’t see the chalk drawing for a few seconds until after he’d finished. Did the demons somehow control what people could see??)

When the lecture ended, Yaku was one of the first students out of the room. He tried to lose the demon in the crowd, and he even thought he had! But then there he was, sauntering into Yaku’s next class a few minutes late and laying down on top of the table at the front of the room. At least he slept through that class, though, and Yaku was able to take some notes.

Of course, the bustle of students leaving the classroom woke him up, and the demon once again began trailing him.

So now here Yaku was, ordering fast food with a demon leaning against his shoulder. “The number one meal, please.”

“Booooring. At least get a milkshake or something.”

Yaku ignored him, fishing out his wallet to pay. He hated eating out—it was a terrible waste of money—but Yaku wasn’t sure what else to do. It’s not like he could go home. The last thing he wanted was for the demon to know where he lived.

He leaned against the wall, ignoring the demon as it caused some businessman’s computer to short-circuit. 

Yaku needed to get rid of this guy _somehow_, he refused to be haunted by him for the rest of his life. 

As he got his food and slid into a booth, however, the demon slid in behind him. 

Yaku refused to acknowledge this. Ok, so his eye may have twitched when it began stealing his fries, but he refused to acknowledge the demon in any _other_ way.

“So.” The demon twirled a fry in the air. “This is nice. You, me, sharing a meal together. Kind of like a date, don’t you think?”

Yaku almost spat out his drink, but he managed to swallow. After coughing a bit, he glared at the demon. “I’m not sharing, you’re stealing, and it is _not_ a date.”

“Oh! You can speak in full sentences!” The demon set up straighter, grinning. “I was beginning to wonder. I mean, all day and you haven’t said a word to me or a single other person. Well, besides to order your food.” 

“I was hoping you’d leave.” Yaku glanced around at the other tables, but thankfully they seemed to be ignoring him and the fact that, for all they knew, he was talking to himself.

“Nah.” The demon shrugged, “I’ve got nothing better to do, and you’re interesting.”

Yaku gave him a blank stare.

“You are!” The demon pointed a fry at him. “You can see us. You can talk with us. You could do anything with that ability! But instead you decide to sit and listen to lectures on history? It’s weird. And boring. You want history, ask me some questions. I can give you far more accurate facts than those losers could.” 

_That_ made Yaku pause. He’d never thought about the fact that the demons around him might have actually seen the eras he studied. “How old are you?”

“Ahh…. Let’s see.” The demon hummed, “Last time I counted back to my death day I was like…”

“Death day?”

He blinked, tilting his head a little to the side. “You really don’t know anything about us, do you?”

Yaku scowled. “I’ve made a point of avoiding your kind, actually. If I interact with you I usually get beat up or ignored.”

“Well,” the demon shrugged, “some of us, like myself, were human once, but became demons because of the way we died.” He grinned, his lips stretching back to reveal his sharp teeth as his eyes flashed. “Like my best friend betraying me and our daimyo and murdering both us and our entire families in an attempt to gain the territory for himself.” Yaku swore the room became colder as the demon spoke, and the people in the tables next to them were actually starting to rub their arms. 

Note to self: do not mention death days around demons. Yaku hurried to move past it. “So… you’re what? Haunting his descendants?”

“Basically.” The demon chomped down on a fry, and Yaku winced. He’d never thought eating a _fry_ of all things could be done violently. “I make sure their lives are miserable and any chances they have at happiness are ruined. Well, at least I did that for the first hundred years or so, but then I got bored. Now I mostly cause mischief and keep people from betraying their friends, or condemn anyone who has betrayed a friend to a living hell courtesy of yours truly.” The demon gave him a cheerful smile, and suddenly the air was warmer again. “Now where was I? Right. My death day. That happened in 1685, so I’m… 330 years old or so.”

“Huh.” Yaku had honestly never imagined that. He was sitting across from a being that was over three hundred years old. And said 300 years old being was still _stealing his fries._

“Could you stop doing that?!” Yaku grabbed the last few fries and shoved them into his mouth, glaring at the demon.

He promptly burst out laughing. “You…. Oh gosh.” The demon wiped at his eye, acting as if there was a tear there. “Talking to you is so much better than dealing with other demons! You act like there are morals and boundaries and things!” He laughed some more. 

Yaku swallowed the fries. “That’s because there _are_.”

“Not for demons, kiddo. It’s a dog eat dog world, and only the strong survive.”

Kiddo?! He supposed he couldn’t argue with it, even if it was demeaning. Yaku scowled. Didn’t mean he liked the name, though. And another thing… “You’re saying you’re strong?” He raised one eyebrow skeptically. Yaku’d seen plenty of demons, and this guy didn’t look like he could take on many of them.

“I go by Kuro. Call for me, next time those demons you mentioned try to beat you up.” With that, the demon finally stood up, winking at him before tossing a “see you around” over his shoulder as he left the restaurant.

Call him?

What the hell was that supposed to mean?

Whatever. At least he’d finally left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed the chapter!! I really appreciate all kinds of feedback <3
> 
> If you want to talk about my work, writing, art, or anime in general, we always love to have new people join us on my discord server! We recommend fics to each other and have started writing and art challenges, too :D You can be active as much or as little as you want. I post chapter previews there, too :) https://discord.gg/BDZGCBa


	2. We Meet Again

It was three weeks later and Yaku had almost managed to forget the odd demon when it happened.

He bumped into someone as he took out the trash.

At first Yaku didn’t think anything of it, but a second later he found himself slammed into a wall, a guy with reptilian eyes glaring at him. “You’re going to pay for that, brat!” A snake-like tongue whipped out. 

Yup. Definitely a demon. What, did he think Yaku would quiver in fear by being pinned to a wall by some unknown force?

He just wanted to go to bed, not deal with an irate demon. “Look, I’m sorry for bumping into you, but how about you apologize for slamming me into a wall, you dick?”

Oops. He probably shouldn’t have said that last bit. 

The demon’s eyes widened. “You can see us.”

Oh great. Not again.

The girl behind them (presumably another demon) was snickering. “You going to just take that, Daishou?”

“Like hell!” The demon glared at him. “Look here, human brat, you should really know your place—”

Yaku lashed out, kicking the demon between the legs as hard as he could.

The guy crumpled to the ground with a shout and Yaku took off. That was a trick he’d long ago learned for the humanoid ones. Didn’t work for others since their body parts were different, but it never failed with a humanoid—their parts were always sensitive and unguarded. Shouts followed Yaku as he scampered up the apartment stairs. 

At least the guy couldn’t fly.

Yaku yanked his keys from his pocket, fumbling for the right one and then darting inside, slamming the door shut behind him and then locking it. 

He slid to the floor with a sigh. 

Then the pounding started.

“Oi! Human brat! You’re going to pay for that!” 

Great. 

Just great. Now he had an annoyed demon that knew where he lived. 

Yaku groaned as the frame of the door bent from the force of the demon slamming his body against it. His landlady was _not_ going to be happy about that if it left a permanent bend and Yaku was going to need to move now, but this location was so convenient and—

“Yo, Daishou.”

Yaku froze, then slowly turned around, staring at the door.

He recognized that voice.

The pounding stopped.

“What do you want, Kuro?! I have to show this kid who’s boss; I don’t want to deal with your smug face right now!”

“See, that’s the thing. I kind of like that human kid, so scram.”

“What?!” 

“Scram.”

“You little…” 

“Daishou! Are you going to finish up, soon? We’re going to be late!”

Yaku blinked at the girl’s voice. Demons could be late for things? He supposed that made sense.

The snake demon screamed. “Fine!” There was a short pause, then, “We’ll finish this later, Kuro!” The railing creaked, and then there was silence on the other side of the door.

Yaku jumped at the soft knock that came a minute later. “He’s gone now. I thought I told you to call for me if someone wanted to beat you up? Not that you didn’t handle yourself well! Man, I haven’t laughed that hard in ages…”

“Go away.” Now multiple demons knew where he lived? Yaku really needed to move. 

“Yeah…. No can do. You’re fun.”

“How did you even find my place?!”

“Stalked you, obviously. It wasn’t hard.”

Yaku groaned, hiding his head behind his hands. “Why would you even do that?!”

There was an exasperated sigh from the other side of the door. “I’ve already said: you’re fun. Now, you gonna let me in or do I have to break a window?”

“Don’t!” Yaku scrambled for the door, not doubting for a second that the demon would do exactly that. He undid the lock, swinging it open to reveal the demon from a few weeks ago. On second thought… the demon’s foot shot out as the door began to close. Yaku glared at him.

“Nice place you got here! Lots of open space and all…” Kuro strolled over to the couch, then threw himself across it, lounging with a smirk as he watched Yaku. 

Yaku slammed the door shut, locking it once more just in case the snake demon came back. “Why didn’t your demon friend break the windows instead of just pounding away at my door? Not that I’m glad he didn’t.”

“Woah, woah, woah, buddy. He is _not_ my friend. The guy’s a bastard and we hate each other.” Kuro stretched out. “He’s also a dumbass. He’ll think of the windows eventually, though, so I’m gonna stay here.”

Yaku blinked.

What?

No.

No, he had to have heard that wrong. “I’m sorry. You’re going to what?”

“Crash at your place. Daishou’s a bastard and holds a grudge. You’re not safe; I like you; I stay here to keep you safe. It’s all pretty simple.” The demon gave him a lazy grin.

“No.” Yaku threw open the door. “No, it’s not. Leave. Now. I can handle myself.”

“Nope. A cheap trick like that’ll only work once, and he’s vicious. I’m staying.” The demon hopped off the couch, then bounded around the corner. “I’m a bit cold, though. Got some spare blankets? A jacket?”

“No!” Yaku shut the door again and scrambled after him. “I’m using all of them!”

“You’re using _all_ of your jackets? That’s a bit much.”

“Just leave!”

“Nope!” The guy bounded into his bedroom and flung open Yaku’s closet door, his grin widening and a soft purr escaping his lips as he stared at the futon yaku had spread out flat on top of a shelf so that it could better keep it’s shape.

“No. No, no, no, you are _not_—” words ceased to function as the demon jumped, landing on the futon as a black panther with horns, red highlights streaming through its fur. It circled the futon a few times, then settled down. After a second, it grabbed the hem of one of Yaku’s jackets and yanked, pulling it down on top of him.

Yaku stared at the panther.

The _demon_ panther that had now made itself at home and was purring on his spare futon with Yaku’s jacket as a blanket. 

Yaku slammed the closet door shut, opting not to think about it. For now, he had a doorframe to fix.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been so long between chapters! I was trying to get a bunch of chapters done before I posted again so that I would have a stronger vision of where I'm heading. Anyway, hope y'all liked it! 
> 
> If you want to talk about my work, writing, art, or anime in general, we always love to have new people join us on my discord server! We recommend fics to each other, have writing and art challenges, and play games :D You can be active as much or as little as you want. I try to keep ppl informed about upcoming works I’ll be posting and there’s also some fan art there of some of my works https://discord.gg/BDZGCBa


	3. The Shrine

Every year on the evening of his birthday, Yaku visited the local shrine. 

And every year on the evening of his birthday, Yaku had to avoid the chochin-obake demon that hung out at the front of the shrine’s walkway, darting around and sticking its tongue in the faces of anyone that passed by. People who were more spiritually sensitive shuddered, or sometimes squealed, delighting the little demon. 

Yaku watched the lantern demon as it floated around, searching for its next victim with its one eye.

It had never discovered that Yaku could see it, and Yaku would like to keep things that way. All he had to do was act indifferent as he passed the demon, and to avoid reacting in any way if the demon decided to tease him.

Simple enough.

A small inconvenience when the shrine itself was so beautiful.

Only problem was, this year, he wasn’t alone. 

“Oya? What have we here?” Kuro peered over Yaku’s shoulder, leaning obnoxiously close to Yaku’s ear. “A chibi chochin-kun?”

“It’s been here for years.” Yaku shrugged. “The shrine is only about seventy years old, but they must have borrowed the lantern from another shrine when this one was first built.” After all, objects that became demons only did so after 100 years of use. That was one of the main reasons why Yaku always came to this particular shrine—the chances of encountering other yokai besides the chochin were slim. He sighed, turning to look at the demon beside him. It was probably useless to make this request, but he had to try. “It doesn’t know I can see it, and I would prefer if that remained to be the case.”

Kuro grinned at him, amber eyes lighting up. “Are you asking me for a favor, Yakkun?” 

“No.” The last thing he wanted was to owe a yokai any kind of favor. “Just stating a fact. And _don’t_ call me that.” They weren’t close and he had no reason to give Yaku a nickname. The light for the crosswalk turned green, and Yaku strode forward, ignoring the smug smile on Kuro’s face.

“Oi! Chochin!” Yaku tried not to flinch. He hoped he’d succeeded. The yokai wasn’t looking at him, but… 

Kuro’s arm wrapped around his shoulders. Without thinking, Yaku shoved the demon away from him. “What the hell, you bastard?!”

Kuro cackled, and suddenly the chochin-obake was licking Yaku’s face. 

It was _disgusting_.

“Man! You should see your face right now!” 

“Kuro…” Yaku glared at the demon as he doubled over, laughing his head off, then he slowly marched over to him, ignoring the few passerby on the other side of the street that were giving him concerned looks. Yaku pulled his leg back, then kicked the back of Kuro’s leg, sending him sprawling onto the cement. 

The chochin-obake was laughing as it spun in in circles around them. “How exciting!! Heeellooooooo huummmaannn!!!”

Yaku glared at the smaller demon. “Scram, or I’m kicking you, next.” 

The lantern squeaked, then fled into the trees. 

Yaku turned back to Kuro. “I’m going to visit the shrine. _You_ are going to leave me alone. Got that?”

“Yeah, yeah.” The demon huffed, then stood up, brushing off his jeans. “It’s not like the chochin was a big deal.” 

“Right.” Yaku raised one eyebrow, frowning at the demon. “Maybe I should go find it and tell it to come lick your face, then.”

Kuro wrinkled his nose. “How about not. It’s not like I’m going to follow you into a _shrine_ of all places, anyways. I hate those things.” 

Yaku rolled his eyes, then turned and headed down the stone pathway. He never could keep track of which yokai liked shrines and which ones didn’t. Good to know that Kuro seemed to be one of the latter. The panther demon was acting like he _could_ enter, though, not that it was physically impossible. But that could be a front, for all Yaku knew. He sighed. 

He wished Kuro would just leave him alone. Sure it was nice to know he’d have back-up if this snake demon Daishou or another powerful demon did decide to mess with him, but Yaku had lived this long on his own. He didn’t need Kuro to hang around and watch out for him. 

Yaku sighed again, heading over to where the priest was standing by a tray of omamori. He pulled his old omamori from last year out of his back pocket and placed it on the wooden counter. The last thing he needed was to hang onto the good luck charm for longer than a year and gain bad luck. Yaku had enough of that in his life.

After the priest took the old charm, Yaku glanced over the shrine’s omamori. Typically he bought one for good studies, but this year… Yaku picked up the charm for physical protection. Something told him he was going to need the extra help. 

After that Yaku walked across the gravel path, crossing through the complex to reach the main shrine. All he could hear was the crunch of the gravel underfoot and the wind through the trees. He took a deep breath. No demons. At the main shrine Yaku rang the bell and offered his prayers for the upcoming year, tossing a five yen coin into the offering box offering for good measure. 

He hesitated, though, before heading back down the stone path. All the old wooden buildings were so peaceful, rays of light filtering through and dancing on the red paint.

Yaku wished he could stay.

He wished there wasn’t a demon waiting for him at the bottom of the path. 

He wished he could stand here, listening to the birds in the trees and the wind and the temple bell—Yaku frowned.

The bell shouldn’t be ringing. This wasn’t a popular shrine; the only other person here was the priest. 

Yaku slowly turned around. 

The flat, circular shrine bell was on the ground, the lip at the bottom of the bell stretching wide and revealing sharp, pointed teeth as legs and a tail sprouted behind it. 

Yaku’s eyes widened.

A waniguchi.

Shit! Had the shrine borrowed an older bell, too?! 

Yaku ran. He sprinted down the steps of the path, the waniguchi letting out a screech and then hustling after Yaku far faster than its short legs should allow. 

From what Yaku knew these demons didn’t _eat_ humans, at least, but they definitely weren’t friendly! The sound of the bell banged along the path behind him, thankfully sounding more and more distant, but it was still far too close for Yaku’s comfort. 

And now Yaku was going to have to find a new shrine and get bad luck when he couldn’t return the omamori and—Yaku jumped over a tree root, stumbling a couple steps, but managing to keep his balance as he skidded out onto the sidewalk where he’d left Kuro.

Except there was no Kuro.

Where was that damn cat when Yaku needed him?! 

The light was red and he couldn’t cross, so Yaku ran down the sidewalk along the edge of the shrine. Think. Could waniguchi leave the shrine perimeter? He didn’t know! He’d always planned on avoiding old shrines because of demons like this! Yaku groaned. Those teeth did not look pleasant, and the bell sounded louder, now, which meant the yokai was probably cutting through the trees, but Yaku couldn’t see any place to cross the street—

“Oi!” An arm grabbed his, pulling Yaku to a stop.

Kuro. 

“Why the hell are you running from that tiny thing?”

“Have you seen those teeth?!” Kuro was insane. 

The demon growled, turning toward the forest right before the loud bell rang again, then burst through the trees. Kuro held out one hand in front of him, catching the demon’s face and clamping its mouth shut. The demon squirmed in the air, its legs too short to reach around and free itself, but its mouth too weak to escape Kuro’s grasp. 

Kuro turned toward Yaku, his entire expression exasperated as he tossed the waniguchi back into the trees. “How exactly have you survived this long?”

Yaku glared at him. “I avoid old places and don’t interact with you lot.”

“Uh-huh.” Kuro slung his arm over Yaku’s shoulders, making Yaku growl in annoyance, but when he tried to shove the arm off, he couldn’t make it budge. “That doesn’t seem to be working that well for you.”

“I didn’t need help. I would’ve been fine after I crossed the street.”

“Of course.” Kuro gave him a toothy grin. “Keep telling yourself that, kid. From where I stand, I can’t even wander into the woods for a quick chat with the chochin without you almost getting chomped on by a small fry. The chochin’s the one that told the waniguchi about you, by the way. It was annoyed by your threat.” 

Yaku’s eyebrow twitched. In other words, if Kuro had just done what he’d asked, none of this would have even happened!

Shitty demons!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! two chapters posted together after such a long silence. Hope y'all like the story so far! :D
> 
> If you want to talk about my work, writing, art, or anime in general, we always love to have new people join us on my discord server! We recommend fics to each other, have writing and art challenges, and play games :D You can be active as much or as little as you want. I try to keep ppl informed about upcoming works I’ll be posting and there’s also some fan art there of some of my works https://discord.gg/BDZGCBa


	4. New Discoveries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yaku runs into some acquaintances and is surprised when they react to his new demon companion.

Yaku smiled when he saw the old woman at the park across the street. They’d left his apartment complex early, so he should have time to go by and say hi. Like always, she was watching her granddaughter play in the sandbox as the girl’s mother reading a biology textbook not too far away, chewing on one of the Tokyo University pens that littered the college campus. 

“Good morning, Suzuki-san.”

“Oh!” The woman looked up, smiling at him. “You’re not alone today.” 

Yaku froze. What? He looked around, but there was no one besides him and Kuro. She… she could see him?

“Oh dear.” Now she was frowning. “You didn’t realize, did you?” 

“Yakkun here is a bit oblivious, I’m afraid.” Kuro’s arm wrapped around Yaku’s shoulders as he stood there, trying to get his mind to reboot. “I have horns and he still thought I was human when we first met.” 

“You’re a demon?” But she was such a sweet lady! And her granddaughter was right there! That _was_ her granddaughter, right?! She wasn’t going to trick that girl or something?!

“More of a ghost, really.” The woman turned back toward the playground. “My daughter’s been trying for years to graduate college, you see. I’ve helped her whenever I can, but I died last year, right before she started her senior year. I just can’t bring myself to move on before I see her graduate, not when she’s so close.” 

Yaku stared. He frantically tried to remember any time he’d actually seen the woman talk to the other two, but he couldn’t think of anything. They always left together, so he’d just assumed—

“Hikari has class, so we should be going. I hope you have a good day, Yaku-kun.” 

Shit. He had class, too. Usually when they were both heading to campus, he’d walk with the old lady a little ways behind the other two, talking quietly. 

Now his feet wouldn’t move.

She smiled sadly at him, giving his shoulder a pat as she walked by. “I’m glad you have made a friend. Boys your age shouldn’t be befriending old ladies in parks.”

A strangled noise escaped his throat. 

And then she was walking away, following her daughter and granddaughter. 

“You really didn’t know, huh?”

“I’ve known her for almost a year. How did I never notice that she didn’t talk to anyone else?”

“Because you’re a dumbass like that.” Kuro sighed, then used the arm that was still around Yaku’s shoulders to steer him toward the campus. “Come on. You’ve got that class thing, too, right? With the boring guy that likes to talk so much?”

Yaku groaned. “He’s _supposed_ to talk that much. It’s his job.” He shoved Kuro’s arm off and sped up, taking a different route than usual as he headed toward the campus. He didn’t want to deal with the fact that he’d apparently befriended a ghost without knowing. Not right now. 

“I keep telling you, I know everything the man’s saying. I lived through that stuff. He makes it sound boring when really it wasn’t. Like Kenma once ran across that Ito Hirobumi guy, but he was a petty jerk so Kenma kept making his ceiling leak right over his desk and—” 

“Somehow I doubt that will be on the exam.”

And who the heck was Kenma?

“Awww, but it was so much fun!”

Yaku rolled his eyes and ignored the demon. At least now when he was talking to a demon people usually assumed he had those earbud things and was actually talking on the phone with someone. When he was younger, he hadn’t been nearly that lucky—it was one of the many reasons he’d first vowed to simply ignore them.

“Ne, ne, Yakkun—”

“I told you not to call me that.”

“Who’s that?”

Yaku blinked and looked over at the fountain where Kuro was pointing. Oh. “Haiba Lev. He’s half-Russian, I think. He’s a few years younger than me, so I don’t really know him that well, but he’s popular on campus.”

“Half-Russian, huh? I guess that’s one way to explain any eccentricities he might have.”

Yaku frowned.“Everyone else can see him, Kuro. Like I said, he’s _popular_.” There was no way this kid was a demon. It wasn’t like with Suzuki-san. 

“Strong demons can take on human forms that are visible to you guys. I could too, technically. I just don’t like doing it.” 

Yaku’s head jerked around to stare at Kuro, who was still watching Haiba. “You’re kidding.” 

“Nope! Bet you I can get him to react to me.” Kuro’s grin was wide, but Yaku grabbed his wrist and hauled him in the opposite direction. 

“I have class, remember? I don’t have time for that right now.” And he’d already had one too many revelations today, thank you very much.

Unfortunately, though, Yaku could barely keep his mind focused on the lecture. His eyes kept drifting out the window, to where Haiba was chatting with a couple other boys in his grade. One was… Inuoka? Yaku thought that was his name. He was an education major, but he took a lot of history classes. And then Shibayama was another history major. 

Kuro didn’t help Yaku’s focus at all. The panther was curled up in the sun’s rays on the front table, occasionally knocking papers off the desk with his tail. Ever since the demon started coming to class, Yaku’s poor professor had become convinced that the room had a strong draft because of all the papers falling on the floor.

The second the bell rang, Kuro pounced off the table, making a beeline down the hallway and out the doors, no doubt straight toward the unsuspecting underclassmen. Yaku rushed after him, hoping that maybe he could somehow stop the mayhem, but he was too late. 

Yaku shoved open the door right in time to see Kuro pounce, earning a large screech from the silver haired boy.

But… that should have felt like wind. 

Kuro licked his face and Haiba complained about it being gross, his eyes widening as they caught sight of the horns on Kuro’s head. The demon grinned at the panicked look on his face.

Yaku sighed as the other two underclassmen both huddled around Haiba, asking him if he was ok and wondering what had happened.

“I’m fine!” He shoved Kuro off and stood up, wiping off his pants. “The wind was just really strong and I wasn’t balanced well with how I was sitting, that’s all.” The boy laughed, rubbing at the back of his head and completely ignoring Kuro, was was now starting to growl. “I forgot about something I need to take care of, though, so I’ll see you two later!” 

And then Haiba was walking away, ignoring his friends’ questions as Kuro followed him at his heels. 

Yaku hurried after them before the underclassmen noticed his presence, rounding the corner and almost slamming right into Kuro’s back. Apparently he’d shifted back to his humanoid form, now. Yaku cautiously poked his head around the tall demon’s shoulder to see Haiba glaring at him.

Then Haiba noticed Yaku, and he blinked in surprise. “Yaku-san? But you’re…” His voice trailed off, clearly uncertain about finishing that sentence. Yaku sighed.

“I’m human.” Haiba’s eyes only looked more confused now. “I can see demons, though. Kuro’s appointed himself my bodyguard and apparently that means pointing out everyone around me that’s less than human themselves.” Yaku glared at the panther demon.

Kuro’s returning grin was eerie with his too-sharp teeth. “It’s not my fault you can’t tell the difference.”

“You can see demons, but you still thought I was human?” Green eyes sparkled in delight, and now that Yaku was paying attention, his eyes were slanted and catlike, a lot like Kuro’s. Damn it. 

Yaku crossed his arms as he huffed in annoyance. “You interact with other people. Of course I thought you were human.” That was the only way he knew how to tell with the humanoid ones. It’s not like he could feel their aura or something.

“That’s awesome though!” Haiba’s grin was huge. “That means I’m really blending in! This place is so amazing—there’s so much to learn here!” 

“You must be new to the gig.” 

“Huh?” Haiba looked back at Kuro, as if just remembering that he was there. “Yeah. How’d you know?”

“Because this place is just like every other school. There’s nothing special.” Kuro cocked his head to the side, his eyes narrowing. “Born a demon, huh?” 

“Eh?” Now the boy looked baffled. “Is it a bad thing?”

“Just makes sense why you’re fascinated by the place. You never lived as a human, so everything they have is new to you, right?”

“Yeah! It’s all amazing! My parents only let me venture down from the mountain recently, but I’ve already learned so much!” 

“Whatever.” Kuro’s hand reached down, grabbing Yaku’s wrist. “Come on. I want lunch.” 

“EH?!?!” Haiba trailed after them. “But we just met! I want to talk more! You seem interesting! And I’ve never met a human that can see us and—!”

“He’s _mine_.” Kuro’s eyes flashed as he bared his fangs, and suddenly Yaku felt nauseous. What the heck? He clutched at his stomach, and Kuro looked at him with concern, but the pain was gone just as suddenly it had arrived. “Sorry, Yakkun.” 

Wait. Kuro had done something? 

Haiba was frozen stiff, his eyes averted as he bared the side of his neck. 

Kuro’s grip tightened, and Yaku found himself hauled down the sidewalk. “He’s harmless, but he needs to be put in his place or he’ll insist on being around us all the time.” 

Yaku blinked, still confused by what had just happened. “You’re the one that thought it would be a good idea to make him notice us.” 

“That was before I knew he was green.” 

“Green?”

“A born yokai, especially a young one. They act like humans are toys.” 

Yaku yanked his hand free. He couldn’t believe this. “And how are you acting any differently?”

“I’m trying to protect you! And you’re not like other humans, you’re actually interesting! Born yokai… they mess with _any_ human for fun. They don’t have human memories, so humans are just like dogs to them, and most born yokai are far more likely to be sadistic with their pets than to cuddle with them or some shit like that. This one’s young and still curious, but who knows when he could grow bored.”

“You said yokai don’t have morals.” 

“We don’t, but we do still have memories. Unlike born yokai, I can’t shake the feeling that you and I are the same species. To me, you’re like a child prodigy or something—interesting and different, but not entirely different. But to him you’re more like a dog with a funny trick.” 

Oh. That kind of made sense, as degrading as both of those options were. “Is this Daishou guy a born yokai, then?”

“Nah.” Kuro rolled his eyes. “He’s just a dick.” 

Yaku snorted. “Good to know, I guess.” Their pace slowed a bit now that they were further from campus, and Yaku turned to head back toward his place so they could grab lunch without anyone wondering why there were two trays. “You could buy yourself lunch, you know.” 

Kuro thrust his hands into his pockets, strolling along beside Yaku. “Why do that when I can just steal yours?”

Yaku glared at the demon. “My funds won’t last forever.”

“Then I’ll just steal us food.” 

“You were literally _just_ talking about how you don’t treat humans like shit. How does stealing fall into that?”

“I’m like that Robin Hood guy—I only steal from the rich.”

Yaku groaned. “You’re ridiculous.” He paused, suddenly remembering the weird nausea he’d felt earlier. “And what did you do back there that made me feel so nauseated?”

“Ah… That was my bad. I released some of my uh… energy, I guess? That sounds really corny, but that’s basically it. Didn’t think you’d be that sensitive, sorry.”

“What the hell?”

Kuro’s face scrunched up. “It’s like I showed him my spiritual strength? Demons have an extra sense for that shit that humans usually don’t have, but you actually seem to have it, which is why you’re interesting. It’s probably tied to your ability to see us. Real psychics have a little bit of it, but not as much as you.” Kuro grinned at him. “It’s really rare for that sense to be as developed as yours is.” 

“Gee, thanks.” Yaku would honestly he’d rather not have it, with as miserable as it had made his life, but whatever.

“Hey, without it, you wouldn’t be able to even see me and you’d be some random boring idiot.” 

Yaku just sighed and pulled his keys out. He doubted saying he would prefer that would make the demon very happy. Plus, if Haiba’s reaction was anything to go by, apparently Kuro actually was strong, which was both disconcerting and reassuring. Yaku’d think more about that later, though. At least he knew a little more about why he saw demons, after that explanation. Not that it helped any, really. 

He was some sort of a genetic anomaly. 

Yay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the bit about Suzuki-san follows Japanese mythology as far as I'm aware--ghosts need some sort of connection to the living to hang around. The bit with Kuroo and Lev later on, though, is totally just an au thing and not how their actual mythology works, if you were wondering ;) 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Thanks so much for the kudos and comments! I'm glad that people like it so far.
> 
> If you want to talk about my work, writing, art, or anime in general, we always love to have new people join us on my discord server! We recommend fics to each other, have writing and art challenges, and play games :D You can be active as much or as little as you want. I try to keep ppl informed about upcoming works I’ll be posting and there’s also some fan art there of some of my works https://discord.gg/BDZGCBa


	5. Snakes

Yaku hadn’t been sleeping well. 

He kept tossing and turning, imagining different people turning into demons, haunting him, chasing him, cornering him—

And that snake. 

That same snake. 

Yaku opened his eyes.

That fucking snake. 

Those golden eyes taunting him, hypnotizing him. The way the snake weaved, the way he couldn’t focus on anything else….

Yaku shivered. 

He’d been six—too young to understand that every ‘normal’ looking animal might not be normal. The snake took advantage of this, and when Yaku had picked it up to move it from his parents’ garden into the bushes, it had looked with him with those wide, golden eyes, and suddenly Yaku was bringing it eggs from the kitchen.

And then the next day, he’d brought eggs again. 

And then it had wanted meat. 

Every day he’d lived in a daze, trapped under its control. Thankfully it let him eat, but he couldn’t speak, could only hiss back at his parents when they asked what was wrong. 

They’d locked him in his room and he’d gotten such a bad fever—

“Yo, kid.” 

Yaku looked up. 

Kuro was crouching in front of him. 

“You ok? You don’t look too good.” 

Yaku frowned. He couldn’t show weakness in front of Kuro. He was getting too used to the demon’s presence, which wasn’t good. “I’m fine. Just having nightmares recently, that’s all.” 

That earned a frown. “You seen any old bastards recently?”

Yaku frowned. Old bastards? Oh. That demon that made people have nightmares. Yaku shook his head. “Just some old memories, that’s all.” Kuro didn’t move. Yaku glared at him. “I said I’m fine.”

Kuro knelt there, peering at Yaku in silence. 

The minutes stretched by, but Yaku refused to elaborate.

Kuro sighed, but at least moved away. “You want to go get some groceries, then? We don’t have enough for breakfast.” 

“And whose fault is that?” The demon was such a freeloader. 

“Yeah, yeah.” Kuro waved his hand dismissively, heading toward the front door. “I’ll see you downstairs.” 

Yaku went through the motions of getting dressed, his mind drifting back to the old memories. That fever had been terrible. And not being able to control his body for days on end, banging at the bedroom door to be let out, all so that he could take more eggs to the garden for that snake’s master—

No.

He was fine.

Yaku took a deep breath, slowly exhaling.

He was in full control of his body. He had been for a long time. 

Shit, he really hated snakes. And there were so many around, recently! And being around Kuro constantly didn’t help--the snake was the only other demon he’d ever _known_ that he’d been exposed to for a long time, and now here was another one barging into his life.

It was _always_ better if he avoided demons. Every single one of them was selfish. Even Suzuki-san hadn’t told him she was a demon, but she should have, right? Why wouldn’t she think that would be important information for him?

Hopefully Kuro would satisfy whatever curiosity he had and leave Yaku alone. Yaku didn’t want to deal with him, or Suzuki, or that guy Lev.

He just wanted to be left alone. For his life to return to normal.

Normal was _not_ walking out of his apartment, now ready for school, only to have a panther grin up at him from the sidewalk, its teeth stained with the blood from the snake trapped under its paws.

Yaku felt like he was going to throw up. 

That was one less snake to try and hypnotize him, though. 

“Am I going to have to deal with you killing things on my doorstep, now?” Yaku wrinkled his nose. 

“Just snakes.” Kuro shrugged, now back in his human form. “There are more because Daishou’s sending them.” Yaku wanted to groan. Of course it was that idiot snake demon from before. Damn it. That meant they wouldn’t stop. 

“If he’s sending them, won’t they just come back, though?”

“Not if they’re dead.” Kuro’s grin was filled with sharp teeth, and Yaku shuddered. 

“Have fun killing snakes then, I guess.” Yaku glanced sideways at the demon. “Why di—” 

He froze. 

There was snake blood still in his teeth. 

Yaku shoved Kuro away. “That’s disgusting.” 

“Huh?” Kuro blinked at him, then ran his tongue over his teeth. “Oh. Sorry. Forgot you humans are a but squeamish about that kind of thing.”

“You forgot.” Yaku was not impressed. “You literally had a huge speech just a few days ago about how you still remember being human and feel connected to us.”

“Well, yeah!” Kuro groaned. “But I haven’t had to deal with human reactions to things in a long time, ok? Cut a guy some slack!” 

“Whatever.” Yaku ignored the demon as he sprinted ahead a few steps, pouncing on a snake and grinning as he stood back up, snapping its neck with a casual motion. 

Yaku shuddered. It shouldn’t be that easy to end a life. 

“Let’s just shop and go back home, then you can kill as many as you want.” 

Kuro grinned, tossing the dead demon to the side of the road. “Yeah, yeah. Squeamish. I get it.” 

Being squeamish didn’t stop Yaku from being happy that the snakes would hopefully be gone soon, though. 

When they finally reached the store, Kuro grabbed multiple items, tossing them into Yaku’s basket without even looking at the price. “Would you at least _try_ to act like you’re sorry for using up my food and money?”

“Nah.” Kuroo grinned. “If you don’t want to buy it, I’ll just steal it.” 

“No!” Yaku swatted the demon’s hand away. “That would be worse!” The people that owned this store were a nice couple and occasionally gave him discounts. The last thing Yaku wanted to do was steal from them. 

Of course the cat treats, milk, and several pounds of fish had the cashier raising her eyebrows and looking between Yaku and his basket. “Did you get a new pet?”

Yaku sighed. “You could say that.” 

She smiled. “Pets are nice! Not all apartment complexes allow them, but they’re really good to have around when you’re living alone.” 

“You sure? Mine’s caused nothing but trouble.”

The girl laughed.

Yaku should probably learn her name at some point. She checked him out every week, after all, but she was somewhat scatterbrained and never wore her name tag. Maybe next week. He grabbed the bags—twice as many as usual, damn Kuro—and nodded to her. 

“Have a good week!” 

Yaku froze as the door slid shut behind them. 

A snake demon.

A huge snake demon, in snake form. A Nure-Onna.

Shit.

Those could hypnotize people. Yaku felt like the world froze, his breath coming quicker, blood rushing through his head. This one was a lot stronger.

It was huge, too, towering over them as it raised itself up on its tail, hair flaring out. 

Shit, shit, shit. 

He couldn’t move.

It was just like before; he couldn’t control his body anymore and there was a snake right there, watching him, angry—

“_You._” The woman hissed, sliding toward them. “You killed my child.” 

Kuro growled next to him, his nails sharpening into claws. “It was stalking my friend. Tell your minions not to be so nosy next time.” 

“Minion?!” The snake charged, and Kuro shoved Yaku to the side. He groaned, landing on top of their groceries as he hit the ground. 

“You killed my child, you fiend!” 

Kuro laughed, dodging her attack with ease. “Sorry, sorry. My bad. Tell your children not to be so nosy, though.” The snake-woman flailed, her tail reaching around to hit Kuro, but he jumped backward, still grinning, his hands in his pockets. “So why’re you working for an idiot like Daishou?”

The snake woman hissed, her eyes flashing. “I know him, but I don’t work for him.”

“Oh.” Kuro blinked, then shrugged. “Whatever. Your kid was still on my turf.” 

She screamed, lunging at Kuro, but suddenly he was in panther form, pinning her to the ground with ease. 

Immediately Yaku felt nauseous, his head beginning to pound. Shit. It was so much worse than last time, too.

“Back down, weakling. Or I’ll kill you, too.” 

Yaku pried his eyes open to see the snake tilt its head in submission, then screech as Kuro raked his claws against its unprotected neck, snarling. “Don’t come near my territory again.” 

And then the snake was babbling, insisting it wouldn’t. Kuro growled again, then finally let it go and the Nure-Onna slithered away faster than Yaku would have thought possible. 

Yaku sighed in relief as the pain and nausea ebbed. “Was that all necessary?”

“Yes.” Kuro shifted back to his human form, adjusting the jacket and sighing at the blood under his nails. “If I’d let her go without injury, she would have waited until I was distracted, then tried a sneak attack when our guard was down. This way she can’t do that because she’s too hurt to try it, and she knows I mean business.” 

Yaku sighed. “You know better than I do, I suppose.” Ignoring that demon definitely wouldn’t have worked. “Maybe check that their Daishou’s snakes before you kill them from now on, though?”

“Nah.” Kuro shrugged. “Too much effort. And you don’t like them around either way, right?”

Yaku stared at the demon in disbelief. “I feel bad if you kill them and they’re not actually trying to hurt me, though!” 

Kuro rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Pretend they’re all his, then.” 

Yaku groaned. “You can’t just kill everyone you don’t like!” oops. The girl walking past them definitely just gave him a weird look. He needed to choose his words more carefully and remember to wear headphones while he walked. 

Kuro snickered, reaching over to ruffle Yaku’s hair with his bloody hand while Yaku was distracted. 

“You humans kill each other for far less, you know.”

Yaku glared at the demon, quickly swatting his hand away. “_I_ don’t!” 

“Yeah, yeah.” Kuro jumped up the stairwell, then grinned down at Yaku. “So snakes make you freeze up and that’s why you’ve been weird this week.”

Yaku glared up at the demon. “Fuck off.” The way the eyes had swirled as the snake—No. He didn’t want to think about it. He’d been too kind when he was little. He was fine now. 

“Sorry. If I’d known that was what was bothering you I would’ve chased them off faster. I’ll make sure they’re gone by tomorrow.” 

“I’m fine.”

“Riiiight.” Kuro rolled his eyes, bending down to pick up their crushed groceries. “Who was it that was frozen in fear a second ago?”

“I did fine against that Daishou guy.”

“Yeah, because he was in his humanoid form. Bet you if he turned into his snake form you wouldn’t do so well.” Kuro smirked. “No balls to kick in that form, after all.” 

“Shut up.” Yaku kicked a rock, annoyed, and stomped toward the direction of his apartment. 

“One got you, didn’t it.” Yaku glared at the ground, annoyed, but the demon kept talking. “They’re weak, but once they’ve mesmerized you it’s hard to break free.” 

Yaku refused to respond. Refused to think about those eyes any more. 

Kuro was silent after that. 

When they reached the apartment and there was another demon snake sunning itself on the steps, Yaku may have kicked it off. 

Kuro laughed. “I’ll take care of them for you.” His hand patted Yaku’s head, retracting quickly before Yaku could swat it away. “Gotta take out the trash so the puny human can sleep.”

“I’m not puny, you bastard.” 

“Sure, sure. Whatever you say.”

Yaku slammed the door shut before Kuro could follow him inside. “Have a nice snake breakfast, then!” 

Bastard. At least this would be one less meal where he was eating Yaku’s food.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed the chapter!! I really appreciate every comment and kudo <3 <3
> 
> If you want to talk about my work, writing, art, or anime in general, we always love to have new people join us on my discord server! We recommend fics to each other, have writing and art challenges, and play games :D You can be active as much or as little as you want. I try to keep ppl informed about upcoming works I’ll be posting and there’s also some fan art there of some of my works https://discord.gg/BDZGCBa


	6. More Demons

Yaku woke up to something tapping against his window. 

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

He groaned, rolling over and pulling his pillow over his head, but the tapping _wouldn’t stop_.

Yaku sighed. 

He wasn’t going to get any more sleep at this rate, so he might as well see what was making that annoying racket.

A quick glance showed that Kuro was still sleeping in Yaku’s closet, curled up in his panther form on top of the spare futon.

But if it wasn’t him, who was it?

One of the snakes wasn’t doing it, right? Yaku hadn’t seen any the past few days. 

Cautiously, he approached the window and pulled back the curtain. 

Yaku blinked.

There was a piece of paper running into the window over and over again, somehow moving on its own. At least, Yaku couldn’t see any wires or anything like that. The paper kind had kanji on it that Yaku couldn’t quite make out, and sort of looked like one of those paper dolls you would see onmyouji use in shows. 

Yaku had never actually seen one in person, though.

In fact, before just now, he would have sworn that no one actually used them.

This had to be yokai related, but if it wasn’t going to leave him alone, maybe Yaku should just destroy it?

It was just a piece of paper, after all.

He grabbed the window’s edge, sliding it open a slight crack, and that was all it needed. The paper doll darted inside the room and straight towards Kuro before Yaku even had the chance to grab it.

Kuro howled, crashing onto the floor, and now… wrapped in the paper? How did the paper become big enough to wrap around the yokai?

“Damn it!” Kuro hissed, now transformed back into his anthropomorphic shape as he thrashed in the paper, still unable to escape. “Kenma!” 

Huh? “Kenma?” Yaku slid the window shut again, debating on whether or not he should help out the demon. 

Kuro let out several colorful curses before finally collapsing, out of breath. “He’s a sorcerer and—”

The doorbell rang. 

“Don’t answer that!” Panic filled Kuro’s voice as he started thrashing again. 

Yaku frowned. “Don’t answer because it’s dangerous for me or because it’s dangerous for you?”

“Because—” 

“Kuro, I know you’re in there. Answer the door already.” 

Yay blinked. The voice sounded… bored?

“Like I could move if I want—gahhh!” Kuro yelped, the paper suddenly pulling him upright and yanking him out of Yaku’s bedroom and down the hall. 

Yaku trailed after the captive demon, watching as the paper hauled him all the way to the door, then forced his arm upwards and made his hand undo the latches and turn the doorknob.

Yaku wasn’t sure _who_ was forcing Kuro to do this, but the voice definitely hadn’t been the snake demon from before, and they were obviously here because of Kuro, not Yaku. So he didn’t get in the way; instead standing back in the hallway where he could see the door but wouldn’t be immediately noticed. 

A human figure stepped through his doorway; one that Yaku definitely had never seen before. He had catlike eyes, though Yaku wasn’t sure if that meant he was a demon or not. He was wearing a spotless white cloak of all things and had a tall wooden staff with the end shaped like a cat’s head. 

The boy sighed, pushing back his hood to reveal blonde hair with brown roots. “About time.” He held up his fingers and snapped, and the paper unwound and shrank, releasing a panting Kuro, who promptly fell onto the ground.

The miniature paper doll floated into the air before bursting into flames, its ashes falling on top of Kuro.

“What the hell, Kenma.” Kuro glared at the boy, brushing the ash out of his hair. “Was that really necessary?”

“You’ve been avoiding me.” Golden eyes flickered over to Yaku, and he stiffened as they evaluated him. It felt like the boy’s eyes could somehow evaluate his entire life in that brief glance before he returned his attention to the demon. “Did you find a new toy?”

Toy?!

What the hell?! “I’m not a toy!” 

The demon and newcomer ignored him.

“I _told_ you I wasn’t going to be around for a while! You didn’t need to do something this drastic!”

Kenma stared at Kuro, then blinked. His lips turned downward into a small frown. “You took my recipe.”

Kuro suddenly became very still. “Recipe? I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

“Give it back. I told you it was too dangerous for you to make that on your own.”

“But—“

“Give. It. Back.” 

The demon sighed. “It’s not here.” 

“Where is it, then?”

“Somewhere safe, ok? I left it with Tsukki.”

Golden eyes narrowed. There was a long pause, then a short scoff. “Fine. We’ll go get it together, then.”

“But I have to guard this kid! Daishou’s angry with him!” 

“Then he can come, too.”

Nope. No way. Not happening. “How about no.” He had no clue who (or even _what_ this guy was, nor did he want to meet with whoever this ‘Tsukki’ was.

Yaku tried his best not to react when those golden eyes glanced over at him once more. “Kuro’s coming. Kuro won’t leave you. That means you’re coming too.” 

“You can’t just barge in here and kidnap me for some random trip! I have plans!” 

“You do not.” Kuro stretched on the carpet, then slowly stood up. “It’s Saturday. You just stare at books all day on Saturday.”

“It’s called homework, dimwit!” 

“I’m not a dimwit, dunce face! And this won’t take long, you’ll have plenty of time for your stupid books afterwards. It’s not like I couldn’t tell you all of that information, anyway—” 

“I’m not going to cheat on the test!” Having a demon tell him all the answers was _not_ how Yaku was going to get through life. He glared at them both, but now Kenma had pulled out another one of those paper dolls and his hands were starting to glow. Shit. The last thing he needed was to be dragged through the streets of Tokyo by a paper doll that no one else could see but him. “Fine! But you owe me, Kuro.”

The glow stopped and the paper once again disappearing underneath the boy’s cloak. Yaku breathed a sigh of relief. 

“Yeah, yeah.” Kuro frowned, shoving his hands in his pockets. “I’d say being your bodyguard more than balances that out.”

“But you’re a terrible bodyguard!” 

“Stop arguing. Come on.” Kenma turned, heading out the door and not even glancing to see if they followed. 

Yaku groaned. “I assume this Tsukki guy is another demon?”

“Yeah, but you’ll like him. He likes history and stuff like you.”

Huh. That at least sounded promising. “What type is he?”

“Karasu.” One of the messenger crows? That didn’t sound too bad. Those weren’t typically violent unless provoked. Kuro stopped at the door. “You coming?”

Yaku forced his feet forward—at least the t-shirt and shorts he’d been wearing as sleepwear would only make him look slightly disheveled if an actual person saw them. He didn’t want to test Kenma’s impatience—it was better to meet the new demon with full mobility rather than be bound up.

Yaku bit his lip as he locked up, glancing down at the figure on the ground. “What exactly is Kenma?”

“He’s a sorcerer.”

A sorcerer? But… “Wouldn’t that make him human? I thought you said you’d never met another human like me.”

Kuro snorted. “He’s a demon, too. Just a special kind that can do magic. You know kitsune can do magic and such right? It’s like that. He qualified for his sorcerer title a few hundred years ago.” 

Yaku would never get used to demon timelines. 

Good to know that this guy was a demon too, though. Maybe a cat type like Kuro, since his eyes were like that? Though with magic he could be disguising his real appearance any way he wanted to, and it’s not like every demon Yaku came across fit a known myth. Kuro certainly didn’t;—nowhere in Japanese mythology was there a horned panther. 

Yaku hated running into unusual demons. They made all of his studying useless. 

And now he was voluntarily following two of them.

He sighed, but still wandered down the sidewalk after Kenma, noticing that the demons they encountered gave them an even wider birth than usual. “Is Kenma that feared?”

“He’s a sorcerer. Of course he is. You have to be brilliant to get that good at magic.” Was that pride in Kuro’s voice? 

Maybe having Kenma around wasn’t so bad, then. Well, as long as he didn’t threaten Yaku with magic. 

Soon enough Kuro grew bored with Yaku’s silence and ran up to Kenma, pestering him despite the fact that he’d just claimed the other yokai should be feared.

The two seemed to know each other well, and it made Yaku curious about their relationship; especially when the sorcerer struck Kuro with a bolt of lightening for trying to steal his staff at one point. (The panther demon had been fine, even if it had made him screech when it happened)

They walked down street after street, gradually entering a more wealthier area of town.

Yaku felt ridiculous in his sleep-wear, and he was receiving several dirty looks. Dang it, how was he supposed to know there were coming to this part of town!? But to everyone else, it looked like he was wandering around alone and didn’t belong there. 

Great. 

Right when Yaku was about to turn around and demand they at least let him change, Kenma stopped.

Yaku stared.

This place was huge—the kind of estate that had the large main doors that were only opened and shut in the morning and at night, then the small side door for a single person to slip through when the main doors were shut.

Yaku could have sworn he’d never noticed it before. Sure he didn’t come to this part of town often, but he _had_ been on this street before, and he’d never seen this gate. Surely he would have noticed something this huge? The complex of buildings was traditional, and through the front gate Yaku could make out a beautifully manicured garden.

A humanoid demon landed in front of them. “Kenma-san! It’s an honor to have you visit us again.” 

Was this Tsukki? It had to be a karasu. The demon’s large black wings were a dead give away, along with crow mask pushed to the side of his head, its priestly garb, shakoju staff, and the fan tucked into his sash. Besides his clothes and wings, though, the demon looked entirely humanwith short brown hair and calm brown eyes. 

The demon gave them a small smile. “I see Kuro-san is joining you as well.” The demon’s head tilted to the side. “And a human?”

“He’s Kuro’s toy.”

“I’m not a toy!” Why did Kenma keep saying that?!

“Ah. I see.” The demon nodded toward Yaku. “You can call me Enno. And you are?”

“Yaku.” Yaku scowled. Freaking demons. He wanted to avoid them, not meet them!

“Pleasure to meet you, Yaku-san. If you three would follow me, I will take you to Tsukki.” 

Despite Yaku’s hesitancy to enter what was clearly a demon’s home, he couldn’t help but be fascinated as they walked down the rocky path. Everything looked like it had been taken right out of an Edo period shogun’s home. They passed one beautiful house after another, each with architecture reflecting a specific animal, though the crow was by far the most represented. 

When they came to a stop, it was outside a large home with two karasu statues guarding its entrance. Enno bowed, but before he had even stood back up, Kuro was sprinting down the pathway.

“Oi, Tsukki! You better not try to ignore us, bird breath!” 

Yaku groaned.

Enno sighed, while Kenma calmly followed the panther demon up the pathway. Reluctantly, Yaku left their karasu guide and followed the other two. He was tempted to wait outside in the garden, but he didn’t want to be questioned by any of the other demons that lived in this complex. Cautiously, Yaku entered the house and slipped off his shoes at the entryway.

The inside was simple, but the paintings on the walls all looked so old and authentic…the way the trees climbed upwards, forcing your eyes toward the ceiling, and the gold leaf looked like it had aged centuries and—

“Why did you bring a human?”

Yaku turned away from the detailed drawing of a cherry blossom tree to see a tall blonde standing in the far doorway, scowling at him and completely ignoring the panther that was now rubbing up against his legs. His outfit was the same as the karasu at the gate, but the mark on his mask’s forehead was a moon instead of a fan. But what did that mean? Yaku had never studied—

“Kuro says he left something of mine with you.” 

The blonde karasu frowned. “He neglected to mention that it was yours, but yes, I have it. I assume you want it back?”

Kenma nodded, and the demon vanished. 

Yaku had no clue what had just happened. How did the demon leave that quickly? It was as if one second he’d been there, and the next he was gone.

Kuroo turned back into his humanoid form, pouting as he sat on the tatami mats. “Maaaan. Tsukki never wants to have fun any more.”

“Tsukki never wanted to have fun with you in the first place.”

“Minor detai—gack!” 

Yaku blinked as the karasu reappeared once more, landing on top of Kuro and forcing his face onto to ground with his staff. “_Not_ a minor detail.” Tsukki growled, then made his way over to Kenma and handed him the piece of paper. “Here. Your recipe. Now take them both out of my home.” 

“Thanks.” Kenma shrugged, then turned to leave and Yaku hurried after him. The last thing he wanted to do was stick around the home of an annoyed humanoid demon. 

When they reached the front gate, there was a loud screech from behind them and suddenly Kuro was dumped onto the ground next to them by one of Kenma’s paper dolls. The demon glared at the sorcerer. “Was the electric shock in that one necessary?”

“You knew Tsukki wanted you to leave.” 

Kuro pouted, slouching and shoving his hands in his pockets as they walked back down the sidewalk. “I just want to mess around! Tsukki’s always got great retorts and it’s fun to rile him up.”

Kenma sighed.

Honestly, Yaku was just glad to have escaped this scenario without any kind of damage (well, to himself, at least). Now if they could just go back to his house—

“I know! Let’s go shopping!” 

Damn it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally the appearance of Kenma and some of the Karasuno team! Hope y'all enjoyed meeting them and the shout-out to haikyuu-quest with kenma! The kenma stuff is all pretty much made-up lore for this au, but the karasu stuff is how they're typically depicted in anime that give them humanoid forms. Normally they're just large crows with priest garb, but I couldn't do that to Tsukki et al. 
> 
> Thanks for all the kudos and comments so far <3 
> 
> You can find me on tumblr at haruhi1020 and if you want to talk about my work, writing, art, or anime in general, we always love to have new people join us on my discord server! We recommend fics to each other, have writing and art challenges, and play games :D You can be active as much or as little as you want. I try to keep ppl informed about upcoming works I’ll be posting and there’s also some fan art there of some of my works https://discord.gg/BDZGCBa


End file.
